The research institutions, especially the public universities in Latin America, have the challenge to demonstrate the relevance of their management and results linked to the socio-productive and interest sectors, but in the middle of international rankings or traditional evaluation systems with partial indicator and less linked to the reality and resources of their organizations. As a result, many contributions and transformative actions are not visible.

This raises the use of strategies that allow to measure the own management for the objectives of the real interested parties and with the available resources.

With the idea that evaluation is not a process of discrediting, but a process of empowerment, a tool and a commitment that helps to improve the transparency and accountability of processes. Research evaluation systems can be strengthened by institutional open repositories, and in the same way repositories can be strengthened.

The strategy of the Universidad de Costa Rica has been to adopt a process approach, based on its own resources or those available in the institutions, but framed in the possible improvement and promotion of good practices. This has made it possible to integrate the repository into many parts of processes and systems, conceived as spaces and tools to help document the results of a management process.

For example, for teaching, research or social action, or linking, in many ways, not only with a scientific article, since it allows us a large amount of documentary typology, for example, a peer review, contribution to a conference, articles, patents, videos, maps, photographs. In addition, research units can promote this space to help control or monitor the management of your collaboration. For transparency and monitoring of the research management cycle, it is possible to link the repositories to project systems and associate them with a researcher, a research area or a unit, in addition to using them for reports requested by different entities, important for data presentation externally or internally, and for contributing to the best strategies to promote areas or lines of research, including fundraising.

All of this not dependent on the use of fixed evaluations, but rather promotes the use according to the needs of the process.

However, it is also possible to set up an evaluation system for specific objectives, such as an academic career, which considers knowledge transfer criteria. The uses depend on the objectives of the institutions, but also on the strategies for promoting the repositories and the support of the authorities, which is a fundamental key to the actions.